Louise Simonson
Louise Simonson, born Mary Louise Alexander, also credited as Louise Jones (born September 26, 1946),Miller, John Jackson. "Comics Industry Birthdays", Comic Buyer's Guide, June 10, 2005. Accessed August 14, 2010. WebCitation archive. is an American comic book writer and editor. She is best known for her work on comic book titles such as Power Pack, X-Factor, New Mutants, Superman: The Man of Steel, and Steel. She is often referred to by the nickname "Weezie". Early Life In 1964 while attending Georgia State College, Louise met fellow student Jeff Jones. The two began dating and were married in 1966.Cooke, Jon B. "Weezie Jones Simonson - Louise discusses her life & times as a Warren editor" Comic Book Artist #4 (Spring 1999 TwoMorrows Publishing p. 92-94 Their daughter Julianna was born the following year. After graduation, the couple moved to New York City. Louise modeled for artist Bernie Wrightson's cover of DC Comics House of Secrets #92 (June–July 1971),Levitz, Paul. 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking. Taschen America, 2010. page 481 the first appearance of Swamp Thing[http://www.twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/05wrightson.html Bernie Wrightson Interview - Comic Book Artist #5 - TwoMorrows Publishing] and was hired by McFadden-Bartell, a magazine publisher and distributor and worked there for three years. She and Jeff Jones split up during this time but she continued to use the name Louise Jones for several years afterward. Louise met the comic book writer and artist Walt Simonson in 1973 and the couple started dating in August 1974.Cooke, Jon B. "Simonson Says The Man of Two Gods Recalls His 25+ Years in Comics" Comic Book Artist #10 (Oct. 2000) TwoMorrows Publishing p. 23 They were married in 1980.Jennings, Dana. "Peeking Over the Artist's Shoulder". "Comics Canonization". The New York Times. August 18, 2011 Career Editor In 1974, Jones started her professional comic book career at Warren Publishing. She went from assistant to senior editorShooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins", Marvel comics cover-dated July 1981. of the comics line (Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella) before leaving the company at the end of 1979. In January 1980, she joined Marvel Comics, where she initially worked again as an editor, most notably on Uncanny X-Men, which she edited for almost four years (#137–182). Simonson (as "Louise Jones") edited another X-Men spin-off, The New Mutants, at its debut in 1983 (after leaving the book, she would have a "cameo" in New Mutants #21, drawn in as a slumber party guest by artist Bill Sienkiewicz).[http://www.uncannyxmen.net/db/issues/showquestion.asp?fldAuto=887 UncannyXmen.Net: New Mutants #21 synopsis] During this period, she also edited Marvel's Star Wars and Indiana Jones comics.Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins," Marvel comics cover-dated November 1983. Writer At the end of 1983, she quit her editing job at Marvel to try her hand at full time writing as Louise Simonson. She created the Eagle Award-winning Power Pack with artist June Brigman. The title, which debuted in August 1984, featured the adventures of four pre-teen superheroes. Simonson would write the majority of the title's first forty issues, even coloring one issue (#18). Her other Marvel writing work included Starriors, Marvel Team-Up, Web of Spider-Man, and Red Sonja. In 1986, Simonson began a long stint as writer of X-Men spin-off X-Factor. In #6, her first issue, she and artist Jackson Guice introduced Apocalypse, a character who would go on to play a major role in the X-Men franchise. From #10 of the title, she was joined by her husband, Walt Simonson, on pencils. In #25, the creators gave the character Angel blue skin and metal wings in a process which would lead to his being renamed as Archangel. Her run on X-Factor included the story arcs "Mutant Massacre", "Fall of the Mutants," and "Inferno". She ended her run on the title with #64 in 1991. In 1987, beginning with issue #55, she became the New Mutants scripter, writing it for three and a half years until #97 in 1991. It was during this run that she and artist Rob Liefeld introduced Cable, another important character in the X-Men franchise. Louise also helped her husband Walt Simonson color his 1983 Marvel graphic novel Star Slammers. In 1988-89, she and her husband co-wrote the critically acclaimed Havok and Wolverine: Meltdown limited series painted by Jon J Muth and Kent Williams Throughout the 1990s, Simonson made frequent in-class appearances when her husband Walt Simonson taught a graphic storytelling course at Manhattan's School of Visual Arts In 1991, Simonson began writing for DC Comics. She, artist Jon Bogdanove, and editor Mike Carlin launched a new Superman title, Superman: The Man of Steel — a title she would write for eight years until #86 in 1999. During this run, Simonson (along with Carlin, Dan Jurgens, Roger Stern and others) was one of the chief architects of The Death of Superman storyline, in which Superman died and was resurrected. It was during that story, in Superman: The Man of Steel #19, that Simonson and Bogdanove introduced their character Steel, who graduated to his own title in 1993, with Simonson as writer until #31. The character went on to feature in an eponymous feature film starring Shaquille O'Neal in 1997. In 1999, Simonson returned to Marvel to write a Warlock series, which featured a character from her previous New Mutants run. That same year, she wrote a miniseries, Galactus the Devourer, in which Galactus died temporarily. During the 2000s, she continued to write for various companies, contributing to titles such as Magnus Robot Fighter, Mystic Arcana,Marvel Adventures, World of Warcraft, Girl Comics, and X-Factor Forever. From 1993 through 2009, she wrote five picture books and eleven novels for middle-readers, many of which featured characters from DC Comics. Two YA novels, Wonder Woman: The Gauntlet and Wild at Heart, published by Bantam Books, were based on the Justice League cartoon. She wrote an adult Batman novel and the non-fiction DC Comics Covergirls. References Category:Bronze Age Category:Dark Age Category:Modern Age Category:Comic Books Category:Writers Category:Editors Category:1946 Births Category:Wonder Woman